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Fursuits are animal costumes made from various materials. They range from simple tails and ears to full costumes cooled by battery-powered fans. Fursuits can be worn for personal enjoyment, work or charity.

The term "fursuit" is believed to have been coined in 1993 by Robert King and can also refer to animal mascot costumes in general, as opposed to human or inanimate object mascots. Fursuits have also been featured in visual mediums as backdrops or as part of a central theme.

Fursuits are associated with furry fandom, a fandom devoted to anthropomorphic animal characters as, similar to mascot suits, they allow the wearer to adopt another personality while in costume. Fursuits are usually sold at conventions, or online by commission or auction. Due to their delicate nature, they require special handling while washing. Fursuits are comparable to costumed characters and are similar in construction to the mascots and walkaround characters used by theme parks and stage shows. The concept is also similar to cosplay, despite the latter's focus on Japanese culture.

Types of Fursuits

The standard fursuit is a full body costume that consists of a head, forepaws (hands), hindpaws (feet) and a body with an attached tail. In some cases, the tail is connected via a belt to the wearer and hangs out through a hole in the back of the body. Many suits include special padding or undersuits to give the character its desired shape (this is especially present in larger characters or those of a particular gender). Owners can spend less than one-hundred to many thousands of dollars on one fursuit, depending on complexity and materials used. More advanced fursuit features include jaws which move when the user speaks, and moving tails. Furry fans make their own using online tutorials or advice from newsgroups; the suits can also be purchased online or at conventions.

A partial suit or half-suit has all of the parts of the standard suit, with exception to the body. This allows the wearer to have different clothes over the paws, head and tail, such as another costume or street clothes. In partial suits, the tail is usually attached to a belt, and the arms and legs have sleeves that can go up as far as the shoulders and pelvis, respectively.

Most recently, a third type known as the three-quarter suit has been developed, which consists of a head, arms and pants made to look like the legs, tail and feet of a specific animal, or a torso in place of legs. This type of fursuit works well for characters who only wear a shirt without pants or just a pair of pants without a shirt.

Reasons for Fursuiting

Furries who own fursuits enjoy wearing them for parades, exhibitions, conventions and informal meetings. Often, the suits depict a personal character and are used in a form of role play, or for expressing their owners' "true" personality. Some fursuiters do not talk while in costume to "preserve the magic" - of those who do, many use costumes with movable jaws.

Some players of live action role-playing games (LARP) create elaborate costumes, including fursuits, for their characters. They may wear a half-suit or a full suit, depending on the character's needs. Weapons and armor could be worn and used by the players; though each convention or meeting has their own rules about weapons on the convention floor. This is similar to cosplay, except the latter focuses on characters from popular media, with emphasis on Japanese pop culture such as manga, anime, and video games.

Some furry fans do fursuiting for a job or to bring attention to an event or charity. This can include mascots at baseball games and the like; but not all mascots are furries, nor are most fursuiters mascots. Many are hired through an agency to represent a character, while others bring their own constructions to an event instead. There are also several volunteer fursuiting groups across North America that either ask or are asked to entertain at various social functions. Some groups even set up their own charitable events or perform on the streets to passersby.

A few members of the furry fandom consider the fursuit a sexual item. Fursuits can be sold with or modified to contain provisions for sexual activity, such as openings, removable panels, and anatomically correct artificial genitalia. Sexual arousal that depends on portraying one's fursuit identity has been called fursuitism in one source.

Cosplay costumes vary greatly and can range from simple outfits to highly detailed "mecha" suits. Cosplay is generally considered different from Halloween and Mardi Gras costume wear as the intention is to accurately replicate a specific character, rather than to reflect the culture and symbolism of a holiday event. As such, when in costume, cosplayers will often seek to adopt the affect, mannerisms and body language of the characters they portray (with "out of character" breaks). The characters chosen to be cosplayed may be sourced from any movie, TV series, book, comic book, video game or music band but the practice of cosplay is most often associated with replicating anime and manga characters.

Most cosplayers create their own outfits, referencing images of the characters in the process. In the creation of the outfits, much time is given to detail and quality, thus the skill of a cosplayer may be measured by how difficult the details of the outfit is and how well they have been replicated. Because of the difficulty of some details and materials to replicate, cosplayers often educate themselves in crafting specialties such as textiles, sculpture, face paint, fiberglass, fashion design, woodworking and other such use of materials in the effort to render the look and texture of a costume accurately. Almost all cosplayers wear wigs in conjunction with their outfit in order to further improve the resemblance to the character. This is especially necessary for anime and manga characters who often have unnaturally coloured and uniquely styled hair.

More simple outfits may be compensated for their lack of complexity by paying attention to material choice, and overall excellent quality. The process of creation may then be very long and time-consuming, making it a very personal journey and achievement for many. This taxing, and often expensive process is known to unite cosplayers and is considered a part of the culture of cosplay.

Cosplayers obtain their apparel through many different methods. Manufacturers produce and sell packaged outfits for use in cosplay, in a variety of qualities. These costumes are often sold online, but also can be purchased from dealers at conventions. There are also a number of individuals who work on commission, creating custom costumes, props or wigs designed and fitted to the individual; some social networking sites for cosplay have classified ad sections where such services are advertised.[4] Other cosplayers, who prefer to create their own costumes, still provide a market for individual elements, accessories, and various raw materials, such as unstyled wigs or extensions, hair dye, cloth and sewing notions, liquid latex, body paint, shoes, costume jewellery and prop weapons. Most cosplayers engage in some combination of methods to obtain all the items necessary for their costume; for example they may commission a prop weapon, sew their own clothing, buy character jewelry from a cosplay accessory manufacturer, and buy a pair of off-the-rack shoes and modify them to match the desired look.

In order to look more like the character they are portraying many cosplayers also engage in various forms of body modification. Contact lenses that match the color of their character's eyes are a common form of this, especially in the case of characters with particularly unique eyes as part of their trademark look. Contact lenses that make the pupil look enlarged to visually echo the large eyes of anime and manga characters are also used.[5] Another form of body modification cosplayers engage in is to copy any tattoo or special marking that their character might have. Temporary tattoos, permanent marker, body paint and in rare cases having a permanent tattoo done are all methods used by cosplayers to achieve the desired look. Permanent and temporary hair dye, spray-in hair coloring, and specialized extreme styling products are all utilized by some cosplayers whose natural hair can achieve the desired hairstyle.

Is there a Purpose?

Of Course.

The cosplayer's purpose may generally be sorted into one of three categories, or a mix. Most cosplayers draw characteristics of all three categories.

The first is to express adoration for a character, or in feeling similar to a character in personality, seeking to become that character. This type of cosplayer may be associated with being a fan and is often labelled as an otaku. Other characteristics may be an enthusiastic manner and less attention to detail and quality. Such cosplayers are also most likely to adopt the character's personality and are known to criticise other cosplayers for not having a full knowledge of their character, or not also adopting character mannerisms.

The second is those people who enjoy the attention that cosplaying a certain character brings. Within the cultures of anime and manga specifically, as well as science fiction and fantasy, there is a certain level of notoriety that is attached to cosplayers. Such cosplayers are usually characterised by attention to detail in their garments and their choice of popular characters. They are also noted by participation in cosplay competitions.

The third is those who enjoy the creative process, and the sense of personal achievement upon completion. Such people are more likely to have a greater budget dedicated to the project, more complicated and better quality outfits with access to more materials. They are also more likely to engage with professional photographers and cosplay photographers to take high quality images of the cosplayer in their garment posing as the character.

Cosplay is a major Trend in Japan so why not bring it all around the world for everyone else to enjoy.

The appearance of cosplayers at manga events makes such events a popular draw for photographers. As this became apparent in the late 1980s a new variant of cosplay developed in which cosplayers attended events mainly for the purpose of modeling their characters for still photography rather than engaging in continuous role play. Rules of etiquette were developed to minimize awkward situations involving boundaries. Cosplayers pose for photographers in designated areas removed from the exhibit hall. Photographers do not press them for personal contact information or private sessions, follow them out of the area or take photos of exhibits in the hall itself without permission. The rules allow the symbiotic relationship between photographers and cosplayers to continue with the least inconvenience to each.

Recent cosplay events in Asia show an increase in the popularity of non-Asian fantasy and science fiction characters.

Where to Wear a Cosplay?

Conventions; that's where its the most popular form of presenting.

Conventions dedicated to anime, manga, comics, TV shows, video games, science fiction and fantasy may be found all around the world. The US alone features nearly a hundred conventions across the country each year. The single largest event featuring cosplay is the semi-annual doujinshi market, Comiket. This event, held in Japan during summer and winter, attracts hundreds of thousands of manga and anime fans. Thousands of cosplayers congregate on the roof of the exhibition center. The largest event for cosplayers outside Asia is the annual San Diego Comic-Con. The biggest event in the UK is the London MCM Expo at ExCeL London.

"We have sold out all available rooms at our official hotel at the San Antonio Grand Hyatt for Thursday & Saturday night. Don’t panic! We have made arrangements with the Marriott Riverwalk hotel located directly across from the Grand Hyatt hotel and the HBG Convention Center. The Marriott Riverwalk has hotel rooms at a special convention rate starting at $109/night & up." By San Japan

Registrations!!!

Purchase your pre-registration passes at Ooples.

Located at 7460 Callaghan Road Suite 410, San Antonio, TX 78229

San Japan: Mach 5 / 2012 Pre-registration for three-day weekend passes will be at these pricing tiers (AGES 13 & UP) to purchase (up until 11:59pm of that day):

$45 – April 11th, 2012 to July 13th, 2012

If you plan to pay by check, money order or cashiers check, click on the pre-registration link. Once you’ve filled out the information, a link will appear at the bottom to either pay online or mail-in payment. Choose mail-in payment then follow the on-screen instructions to print out your pre-registration and mail-in payment.

We do offer a group discount. It is $5 off per badge if 10 or more passes are purchased at the same time. It is $10 off per badge if 25 passed are purchased at the same time. The discount is applied at checkout. The group discount will only apply to pre-registration passes. After July 13th, the group discount will no longer apply.

Parent or Guardian 18 & up MUST accompany child at all times if 12 or under.

Age 5 And Under – FREE

Military Discount – $5 Off 3-Day Pass/Day Pass (Active Duty Only – No Discount For Military Family/Relatives)

LOST BADGE FEE – $25

Passes will be sold at the Registration Section of the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center [Room 101A]

1-Day and regular 3-Day passes will be available online starting July 16th, 2012.

We offer a $5 Military Discount for all Active Duty Military (proof must be shown, no Military Discount for family or retired). It will be applied At-Door of the convention. Military Discount can not be applied to Pre-Registration. We will be accepting credit cards at the convention.

The Gold Pass costs $100. Gold Passes are SOLD OUT as of Jan. 9th, 2012 and we will not be releasing any additional Gold Passes.

We have discontinued Silver Passes.

If you purchase a Gold Pass, you do not have to purchase a regular 3-day pass. Gold Passes are only offered online. They will not be available at the convention. No military discount is offered for Gold Passes.